Express Interest

FOR AMBITIOUS YOUNG ADULTS

The Next Version Of You Starts Here.

For ambitious young adults ready to build confidence, gain independence, and discover what they're capable of.

Explore the Fellowship

Express Interest

Application-Based Admission

Application-based admission for ambitious young adults ready to broaden their perspective.

Global Perspective

Experiences designed to expand judgment, confidence, and understanding of the world.

Ages 18–22

Focused on the critical years when identity, independence, and ambition take shape.

Formation Years

The Years That Shape Everything

The years between adolescence and adulthood are among the most formative of life. It is a period of discovery, independence, and growth. Identity takes shape, ambitions become direction, and perspective begins to form. Yet few young adults are given the opportunity to navigate this transition with intention.

Manara Fellows was created specifically for this transition.

Through immersive experiences, mentorship, challenge, and reflection, fellows develop the confidence, perspective, and judgment needed to thrive in an increasingly complex world.

Why Manara

Some Lessons Can't Be Taught.

The world rewards curiosity, adaptability, confidence, and perspective. Yet few young adults are given meaningful opportunities to develop these qualities.

Manara Fellows bridges that gap—not as travel, study abroad, or camp, but as a selective fellowship where experience becomes formation.

Building the confidence to navigate an uncertain world.

The Fellowship Experience

A Fellowship Built Around Experience.

Global exploration

Confidence grows beyond the familiar.
Navigate new cities, cultures, and challenges while learning to adapt, observe, and take initiative.

Cultural immersion

Perspective comes from understanding others.
Engage deeply with different cultures, ideas, and ways of life through meaningful interaction and reflection.

Mentorship

Experience becomes wisdom through reflection.
Mentors help fellows make sense of challenges, identify patterns, and gain clarity about who they are becoming.

Leadership challenges

Growth begins with responsibility.
Take ownership, solve real problems, and develop the judgment that comes from action rather than instruction.

Lifelong friendships

The people you meet shape who you become.
A small cohort creates trust, belonging, and a network that extends far beyond the fellowship.

Practice in the world

What a Fellow Might Do

Navigate a city independently using only a paper map and a daily budget. Interview a local entrepreneur about how they turned an idea into reality. Lead a group through a difficult decision when there is no obvious right answer. Step outside your comfort zone and discover what you're capable of.

Each challenge is designed to build confidence, judgment, resilience, and independence—not through instruction, but through experience.

Destinations

The Destination Is Not the Point.

Japan, Italy, Morocco, and future destinations are not the product. They are the setting. What matters is what happens when young adults step beyond the familiar, engage deeply with different cultures, and discover what they are capable of.

Young adults walking through Tokyo at night

Japan

Navigating Tokyo independently while building confidence, awareness, and adaptability.

Italy

Meaningful conversations in Florence, where beauty becomes a setting for reflection.

luxury riad-forward: courtyard, tilework, warm lighting, intimate setting.

Morocco

Engaging markets, artisans, and daily life with curiosity rather than consumption.

Future destinations

Future cohorts will gather only where Manara can create meaningful encounters, trusted mentorship, and opportunities for profound personal growth.

By invitation and application

Outcomes

Discover What You're Capable Of.

Fellows return with more than memories. They return with greater confidence, stronger judgment, broader perspective, and a deeper understanding of who they are becoming.

Confidence

The belief that you can handle what comes next.

Independence

The ability to navigate the world on your own.

Judgment

Knowing how to make thoughtful decisions in unfamiliar situations.

Adaptability

The capacity to thrive amid uncertainty and change.

Perspective

A broader understanding of people, cultures, and possibilities.

Belonging

Meaningful friendships built through shared challenges and experiences.

Founder Story

Why I Created Manara Fellows

After decades of travel, leadership, and raising five children, I became convinced that some of life's most important lessons cannot be taught in a classroom. The experiences that shape us most often happen beyond the familiar—when we are challenged, exposed to new perspectives, and encouraged to grow. I created Manara Fellows to help young adults build confidence, judgment, independence, and perspective during one of the most important transitions of their lives.

A single experience can change how a young person sees the world—and themselves.

Designed With Intention

The Manara Difference

Small Cohorts

Because transformation happens through relationships, not crowds.

Selective Admission

The people around you shape the experience as much as the destination.

Purposefully Designed

Informed by decades of leadership, global travel, and raising five children.

Intentional Growth

Every experience is designed to help you grow with purpose.

The Investment

What It Costs. What It’s Worth.

Fellowship tuition starts at $12,000 per fellow, depending on destination and cohort.

More than a trip, Manara is an immersive fellowship designed to build confidence, judgment, independence, and perspective during one of life's most formative stages.

Tuition includes accommodation, in-program meals, mentorship, curated experiences, and all fellowship activities. International airfare is not included.

We welcome conversations with families to determine whether the fellowship is the right fit.

Fellowship tuition starts at $12,000 per fellow, depending on destination and cohort.

More than a trip, Manara is an immersive fellowship designed to build confidence, judgment, independence, and perspective during one of life's most formative stages.

Tuition includes accommodation, in-program meals, mentorship, curated experiences, and all fellowship activities. International airfare is not included.

We welcome conversations with families to determine whether the fellowship is the right fit.

Express Interest

Application Process

A Fellowship For The Curious.

Each cohort is intentionally small. Fellows are selected for their curiosity, maturity, openness to growth, and readiness to contribute to the experience of others.

Express interest

Begin with a brief inquiry so we can learn more about you, your goals, and your interest in the fellowship.

Admissions conversation

Selected applicants and their families are invited into a conversation about goals, readiness, and fit.

Invitation To Join

Accepted fellows join a small cohort built around trust, challenge, and meaningful connection.